Cartel boss Arellano denies charges

San Diego  In a brief court appearance that was more than a decade in the making, Eduardo Arellano Felix pleaded not guilty to racketeering and other charges related to his alleged role as a top leader of the family drug cartel.

Arellano, 55, sat calmly with a small frown on his face and listened through a Spanish interpreter as U.S. Magistrate Judge Barbara Lynn Major led him through several routine steps for his first court appearance.

No fewer than five deputy U.S. Marshals stood within three feet of Arellano during the seven-minute long arraignment.

The once-top minister to Benjamin Arellano Felix, his brother and leader of the cartel, looked paunchy and was clean shaven. That is a contrast to a photo released after his arrest by Mexican law enforcement in 2008 where he sported a beard and had a leaner face.

He pleaded not guilty to racketeering, conspiracy, drug smuggling and money laundering charges. He is the last of a quartet of Arellano Felix brothers who have been sent to the U.S. by Mexican authorities to face charges here.

The Arellano Felix organization once dominated drug trafficking along the California-Mexico border before concerted efforts by federal law enforcement and attacks on their territory by rival drug gangs weakened the cartel.

The charges against Arellano are contained in the seventh version of an indictment initially filed in 1998 against the organization. Federal proseuctors Joseph Green and James Melendres asked that Arellano remain in custody, citing both his danger to the community and his risk of flight. They declined to comment after the hearing

Major appointed a lawyer, Brian Funk, to represent Arellano. She also set another court hearing for Friday to allow Arellano to challenge the government 's desire to hold him without bail, something unlikely to be overturned.

Benjamin Arellano Felix was sentenced to 25 years in prison by U.S. District Court Judge Larry Burns earlier this year after being extradited to the U.S. in 2011. Another brother, Javier, was sentenced to life in prison in 2007.